George Bush: Brother Jeb Would Beat ‘Sister-In-Law’ Hillary For President

WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 13: Former President George W. Bush (L) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrive at the Summit to Save Lives on September 13, 2011 in Washington, DC. The event introduced a new initiative to screen women in developing countries for cervical and breast cancer. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)(credit: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Former President George W. Bush believes his brother Jeb Bush would beat his “sister-in-law” Hillary Clinton if they both ran for president.

Bush, who joked that Hillary Clinton is his “sister-in-law” after referring to former President Bill Clinton as his “brother from another mother,” stated that the former Florida governor and the former secretary of state would be very formidable candidates for the White House.

Bush said his brother is not afraid of success and failure.

“He’s seen what it’s like to be the son of a president. He’s seen what it’s like to be the brother of a president,” Bush told CNN. “And therefore … he is not rushing into running for the presidency. I have no clue where his head is now.

“By the way, people say, ‘Convince your brother to run.’ You can’t convince him to run, only he can make the decision. Pushing him doesn’t help, by the way.”

Jeb Bush is seen as the early favorite of business-minded Republicans eager to reclaim the White House in 2016. While he would be a force in the Republican presidential primary, Bush would face criticism from the party’s conservative wing unhappy with his positions on immigration and education reform.

Bush reiterated his interest in a presidential run on Monday night at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council, an invitation-only event in Washington featuring some of the nation’s most powerful CEOs.

“I’m thinking about running for president. And I’ll make up my mind in short order — not that far out in the future,” he said.

“I don’t know if I’d be a good candidate or a bad one,” Bush continued. “I kind of know how a Republican can win, whether it’s me or somebody else, and it has to be much more uplifting, much more positive, much more willing to be practical…”

Bush, whose wife is Mexican, told the CEO Council that he supports a nation in which people ultimately find no need to identify their cultural origin.

“That is the America we should aspire to — not the one where we’re dividing ourselves up to find where we are different,” Bush said.